An open call for genocide was witnessed among inflammatory slogans at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, at an event organised by Bharatiya Janata Party member and former spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay against “colonial-era laws”. At the event organised by the ‘Bharat Jodo Movement’, BJP members, including Gajendra Chauhan, were demanding a Uniform Civil Code.
In one of the viral clips, a reporter from ‘National Dastak’ was gheraoed by a crowd who forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while he was seen resisting. The reporter, Anmol Pritam, told the crowd that he would chant out of his own will, and not because the crowd forced him to. The video showed him being manhandled by the crowd. The Wire reported that some people were also seen calling Pritam a ‘jihadi’.
ANI reported that the Delhi police filed an FIR against unknown persons on Monday morning, and that investigations are underway.
The event was held without police permission and flouted Covid protocols, the Indian Express reported. The media outlet also quoted a police officer saying, “We refused permission after informing them about DDMA guidelines (which do not allow for gatherings in view of the Covid protocol), and later we got to know that Ashwini Upadhyay was looking for an indoor venue. Police arrangements were in place and we thought around 50 people would come, but suddenly many people in small groups started gathering. They were protesting peacefully, but started raising slogans when they were dispersing.”
BJP’s Upadhyay has now said in a statement to Bar and Bench that he does not know about any sloganeering that happened on Sunday. “The rally was from 10 to 12 pm. Whereas the sloganeering happened around 5 pm. Our rally was outside park hotel but the slogans were given near Parliament house police station. I do not know who they were,” said he.
